Enhancing Incentives to Improve Performance in the Education System in France

The French education system has a mixed record. A generally very successful pre-school and primaryschool level contrasts with underfunded public universities with high dropout rates which exist alongsidevery successful higher education institutions for elites. Initial education, especially secondary educationand the universities, along with labour market policies themselves, do not always succeed in improvinglabour market entry for a significant proportion of young people. Parts of the management of educationhave been decentralised, yet educational institutions themselves generally have a very restricted degree ofautonomy. The system of performance measurement and incentives, at all levels of education, needs to bereviewed.This Working Paper relates to the 2007 OECD Economic Survey of France(www.oecd.org/eco/survey/france), and is also available in French under the title “Renforcer les incitationsà une meilleure performance du système éducatif en France”.